Concrete-mixer.



A. W. RANSOME.

CONCRETE MIXER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2. 1916.

Patented Nov. 20, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- A. W. RANSOME. I CONCRETE MIXER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2nl916.

1,247, 1 48. Patented Nov. 20, 1917.

2 SHEETS--SHEET 2.

WNW Inventor:

4 6 AS. p A tty TED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTH'O'R WILFRID RANSOME. OF PLAINEIELD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO RANSOME CONCRETE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF DUNELLEN, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION or new JERSEY.

To all whom it may concern:

, Be it .known that I, An'rntm Wmrnm Ransom, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Plainfield, in the county of Union, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Concrete-Mixers, of which the following is a specification.

The improvements relate to concrete mix- ;ers, and while the construction herein described and. shown is particularly adapted for use in connection with the improvements co-pending application, Serial N o.

of my 841,185, filed May 27 191*, it is not limited to such use but may be employed in mixersof various general construction.

Heretofore it has been the practice to provide the drum of themixer with blades on its interior, adapted to move the aggregates to and fi'o and to lift them to the upper part of the drum and ermit them to fall to the bottom. When t e mixing operation has been carried on to a suflicient extent a chute is inserted through the discharge head to receive the aggregates as they fall from the blades at the upper part of the drum and convey them through the said head to the exterior, or the drum-which in that case is usually provided with an end inclined toward the discharge openingis tilted thus causing the mixture to slide out of the drum by gravity.

The present improvements differ from these former devices both in'the particular 'manner in which the mixing of the aggreto pass through the opening without coming in contact with the-edges of the opening an i at the level of the discharge chute and on a? line parallel therewith, e'ifects a quick,-

lean and smooth discharge of the contents.

.The advantages of this construction are Specification of Letters Patent.

CONCRETE-MIXER.

Patented ov. 20, 1917.

Application filed March 2, 1916. Serial No. 81,595.

numerous, and include a thorough intimate mixing of the aggregates and-a discharge manner. They also include an increased. capacity of the mixer and the elimination of the danger of the aggregates splashing out of the charging end of the drum or fouling the door or other closure, so that the chargin openin may be made larger than hereto ore and tierefore more adapted to facilitate the operation of charging.

I am aware that it is not new to mix concrete aggregates by directing them against a wall or some part of a mixer, and causin them to return and mingle with the other aggregates. This method has been practised for many years, and was employed in of the same'in an effective and advantageous hand mixing before mlxing machines were extensively used. It has, however, always been ineffective and wasteful of labor or power', largely because the aggregates have not been so directed, and the parts of the apparatus have not been so formed as to bring about the movements of the materials necessary to proper mixing and with a rela-- tively small expenditure ofefi'ort or power.

Nor is it new to provide a drum with a movable closure, against which the aggregates may impinge during the mixing operation. Such a closure is shown, for instance, in the patent to E.-L. Ransonie, No. 814,803, of

in the patent to W. J. Judd, No. 705,693, of.

July 29, 19 02, and in neither of these patents I is the provision .of such a closureset forth as new. It has also been used in other mechanism. I do not, therefore, claim any novelty in these elements broadly, but claim herein the peculiar construction and arrangement of the blades and the door where by the objections and disadvantages ,of ordinary devices of the kind are overcome and a 'new and advantageous result attained.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 ments from the discharging end; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the discharge end; Fig; 3 is a horizontal cross-section of the mixer taken. on the line,3,.3 of Fig. 1, and looking is ,aview of a mixer embodying the improve a in the direction indicated by the arrows in thatv figure, the arrows of this figure which. indicate the direction of the aggregates indicating the direction as observedv from the side of the mixer on the line of vision of 85 March 13, 1906; another illustration.- is found Fig. 2, with-two of the mixing blades near the top.

The drum consists of the cylindrical shell A and the heads B and C, the former at the charging end of the drum and the latter at the discharging end. The head B has a large opening B for the reception of concrete aggregates, and the head 0 a discharge opening C through which the mixture is discharged. The opening B is of greater diameter than the opening C, and of greater diameter in proportion to the diameter of the drum than the charging openings generally used. The construction of the blades is such that this charging opening may be made much larger than usual without danger of having any of the aggregates escape therethrough, and this increased size of the opening facilitates the charging of the drum to a very material extent.

- rangement, however, may be varied within certain limits without materially affecting their operation or their function, which is primarily to pass the materials forward to apoint where they will be brought within the influence of the blades E. These blades E are also secured to the drum and extend on approximately radial lines toward the center. Tn form they are truncated half cones of irregular form, the base of the cone being at the shell and the apex at the other extremity, and one edge, E, being turned in so that when the blade or scoop reaches its upper position during the rotation of the drum the materials will be directed outwardly as well as toward the center. This causes them to strike the peculiar bowlshaped inner face F of the door F, when the door is closed and to rebound into the interior and lower part of the drum, where they will be again brought within the influence of the bladesD and E, being guided in this direction by the face of the door. The door F also has an oblique annular flange F extending from the periphery of the bowlshaped portion to a point outside the flange C surrounding the discharge opening, and the said two flanges when brought together form\a secure closure and have a single point of contact. This peculiar construction has the additionaladvantage of permitting the intermittent discharge of the drum, for instance, in barrow loads.

The drum is mounted to rotate on suitable flanged rollers Gr cooperating with peripheral traction rings H, at each end, and

. as the door F is in contact with the flange of the discharge head it must revolve with mamas the drum. It is, therefore, keyed to the end of a shaft J and connected with a lever K having a collar K in its formed end K the said collar being fixed against longitudi-- nal movement with respect to the shaft J, but permitting the said shaft to rotate freely therein. In order to permit the door to open the opposite end of the shaft J is mounted in bearings L through which it may slide longitudinally, and the lever K has a slot K at its fulcrum bolt K so that in moving the door outward it may have a compound longitudinal and oscillatorymovement enabling the forked inner end to move in a straight line with the shaft J. To open'the door the power end of the lever K is pushed toward the drum, and to close it it-is moved in the opposite direction, and both of these movements may be made while the drum is rotating. The opening movement should be made while the drum is still rotating, in order to permit the concrete mixture to be discharged through the door C by the scoop blades E, as heretofore described.

The construction of the or their equivalent, is of considerable importance, as it is desirable to have a tight and secure closure, and this cannot be insured where there is more than one point of contact or an appreciable contact surface, or surfaces at the opening so arranged that small stones or other material may lodge between them.

The trunnions of the door shaft, and the door operating lever are mounted on a frame consisting of horizontal pieces N and N, forming a horizontal frame, and posts N 2 and N supporting them, the latter being mounted on one of the base rails O of the mixer.

It will be apparent that the details of construction herein described and shown may be varied within certain limits, without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention, so long as the device conforms to the principles of construction and operation involved. For instance, while it is old to have a door or other closure of a revolving container mounted to revolve therewith and connected by journals to a fixed part, and provided with means to open and close it during the rotation of the container, it is new to have such door so constructed and arranged as to become a part of the means for mixing and intermingling the materials in a rotary mixer, and it is intended to claim this broadly. The construction of the portions of the drum and the door which form the seal and which .cannot be interfered with or rendered ineffective by the materials is believed to be new.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination of a revoluble drum and blades therein constructed and arranged to direct the materials against one head of the drum adjacent to the center thereof from a point above the said center said blades terminating within the vertical plane of the head, and a closure at said head having a surface disposed at an angle to said blades, and adapted to receive materials therefrom and divert them to other of said blades.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a revoluble drum and blades therein constructed and arranged to direct the materials against one head of the drum adjacent to the center thereof from a point above the said center, and a door at the center of said drum mounted to revolve therewith, having a recessed portion adapted to receive materials from said blades and divert them to other of said blades.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of a revoluble drum and blades therein constructed and arranged to direct the materials against one head of the drum from a point laterally removed therefrom, and a door at the center of said drum mounted to revolve therewith, said door having its closing edges extending within the said head of the drum, and said drum having the edges of its door opening turned at an angle to said head and means for moving "the said door to and from the said drum to open and close the said head.

4. The combination of a drum, means for mounting the said drum for rotation, said drum provided with a charging opening in one head and a discharging opening in the other head, blades secured within said drum and extending from the inner side of the shell thereof on substantially radial lines toward the axis of rotation thereof and having a portion turned toward the discharge opening, the inner ends of said blades terminating in proximity to the said opening but within the drum, a movable closure in said opening, said closure having portions angular to the direction of said blades and substantially opposite their inner ends, and the portion which is angular to the direction of one blade being approximately parallel 'to the direction of another blade, said other blade terminating in proximity thereto, whereby materials discharged from one blade are diverted by said angular surface toward the other blade and the said materials as the drum rotates are thrown against said closure and by said closure deflected to the interior of the drum.

5. The combination of a drum, means for mounting the said drum for rotation, said drum provided with a charging opening in one head and a discharging opening in the other head, blades secured within said drum and extending from the inner side of the shell thereof on substantially radial lines toward the axis of rotation thereof and having a portion turned toward the discharge opening, the inner ends of said blades teranother set of blades extending from the charging opening of the drum toward the first named blades.

6. Ina device of the character described, the combination of. a revoluble drum provided with a discharge opening in one head, blades mounted within said drum and constructed and arranged to move materials in the direction of said discharge opening and through the same, a removable door constructed to close said discharge opening, said door having a flange at its edges extending outwardly at an angle to the'head of said drum and beyond the said head and having a portion in contact with the edges of said discharge opening, and said head having its edges surrounding the said opening turned outwardly to meet the said portion of the flange, whereby is formed a closure protected from the impact of the said materials di-. rected toward the opening.

7 In a device of the character described, the combination of a revoluble drum provided with a discharge opening in one head, 7

blades mounted within said drum and constructed and arranged to move materials in the direction of said discharge opening and ARTHUR .WILFRID RANlSOME. 

